Two Canadian mothers and a four-year-old were left fending for their lives after a pair of hulking dogs burst out of a neighbor’s townhouse and attacked them.
Kayla Silva and her four‑year‑old daughter Ryleigh were on their way to their weekly Tuesday night dinner on January 13 at Tejanna Desiree’s home in Oshawa. Desiree’s two‑year‑old son often played with Ryleigh.
But as they walked up the path, two American Bulldogs from the neighboring unit suddenly came charging out the front door.
The dogs jumped on Ryleigh, sinking their teeth into her face as Silva threw herself between them.
‘I just kind of go into panic mode and I grab the dog as best I can and get it off her,’ Silva told CTV News. ‘I have this one dog on my arm and then I feel another animal come from behind me and jump on my back, and all I can think is they’re going to rip us apart. Like, we’re both going to die.’
Hearing the screams, Desiree ripped open her door and ran straight into the chaos.
‘For about 20 or 30 seconds I was just screaming for help, Kayla’s screaming for help,’ Desiree told the outlet. ‘I’m kicking the dogs, I’m trying to grab them and push them off her. All the while they’re biting me and grabbing onto me.’
Eventually the dogs’ owners came outside and managed to pull the animals away.
Police and paramedics rushed to the scene and took the group to hospital. Ryleigh needed eight stitches across her face, the gashes just millimeters from her eye, and suffered multiple bites on her arms. Desiree was also left bruised and bleeding, with bite marks up her arm and blood-stained clothes.
Kayla Silva and her four‑year‑old daughter Ryleigh were walking to a friend’s home when two American Bulldogs suddenly burst from a neighboring unit
Ryleigh, 4, was left needing eight stitches across her face, the gashes just millimeters from her eye
Silva said she hasn’t properly slept since seeing her daughter get attacked.
‘Watching her go through that lives in my head rent‑free,’ Silva said. ‘I cried for three days. I can’t stop thinking about it.’
One week after the nearly fatal encounter, Oshawa bylaw officers issued an animal control order to the owners, identified as Melissa Bolton and Jeff Kirkham, requiring the dogs, Molly and Max, to be muzzled and leashed whenever they’re off their property.
But the neighbors appeared unfazed by the attack.
CTV reported the duo had slapped a sign on their door, with no mention of the animal‑control order, read: ‘Crazy dogs live here. Do not knock. They will bark. I will yell. S**t will get real.’
When a CTV reporter rang the doorbell, a man answered from behind an almost‑closed door with dogs barking loudly in the background.
He flatly denied that any attack took place.
‘There’s no attack. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nope, that didn’t happen. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Have a nice day,’ he said before locking the door.
Tejanna Desiree, Silva’s friend, ripped open her door and ran straight into the chaos to save Ryleigh
Desiree was left bruised and bleeding, with bite marks up her arm and blood-stained clothes
Local councilor Jim Lee said he wanted answers and is open to tougher rules, noting Toronto now forces dangerous‑dog owners to post clear warning signs or face a hefty fine ranging from $615 to $100,000.
However, Desiree said none of that helps her right now, and it doesn’t address that the dogs escaped from inside a private home, where muzzling rules don’t apply.
The mother said she now keeps a baseball bat at her door to protect her and her son in case the dogs are let loose again.
